Swiss economy could weather US financial storm

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GENEVA, Aug 20 (Xinhua): The financial market crisis in the United States is no threat to the Swiss economy, Switzerland's central bank governor said yesterday.
The Swiss financial system is well placed to withstand the turbulence that has sent stock markets across the globe on a roller-coaster ride in recent days, Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, told the Zurich-based NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.
High default rates for US subprime mortgages triggered a widening crisis in financial markets that spread to other asset classes.
"We have not got to the end of the story regarding the development of mortgage markets in the United States," said Roth. "The origins are in cheap credit. What happened is unbelievable."
But Roth added that he expected the Swiss financial system to withstand the current situation. "The commitments of the large Swiss banks... are in proportion to their own capital," he said.